Picture hanger



, Feb. 6, 1962 2. OCHIN ET AL 3,020,013

PICTURE HANGER Filed March 2'7, 1959 INVENTORS ATTORNEY5 nited States Patent O 3,020,013 PICTURE HANGER Zcil Ochin, 98 Beacon St., Hamden, Conn., and Lawrence P. Griser, RED. 1, Sandy Hook, Conn. Filed Mar. 27, 1959, Ser. No. 802,415 3 Claims. (Cl. 248-28) This invention relates to a hanger for pictures or similar articles designed to be hung on the wall and particularly to such a device for the reception of a cord or wire secured to the article to be hung of such construction that the wire or cord will be conveniently guided into the hook or socket portion of the device and held against movement.

The usual hanger for pictures or like articles comprises :a member adapted to be secured to the wall by a nail or screw, this member having a hook at its lower end within which the loop or bight portion of the wire or cord secured to the picture is received. Usually as the wire does not extend above the frame of the picture it is necessary. for the user to grasp the wire or cord rearwardly of the picture and guide it into the hook at the lower end of the hanger. This is quite inconvenient and somewhat ditficult as the users hand and also the hook itself are concealed by the picture and frame. I Also there is comparatively little space between the picture and the wall and it is somewhat diflicult to insure the reception of the cord or Wire in the hook and the retention thereof by the hook when the hand is removed.

In the present construction a two-part hanger is provided which consists of a body portion secured to the wall and a guide portion pivoted to the body portion and adapted to be spaced therefrom so as to guide the wire or cord attached to the picture into the hook at the lower end of the body of the hanger. Also at its upper end the body portion of the hanger is beveled downwardly so that, if the picture and cord or wire are placed against the wall and moved downwardly after the hook has been attached to the wall, the wire will be properly guided into the space between the hanger body and guide member Without any further attention or maneuver on the part of the user.

Moreover the pivoted guide member will be moved to a closed position by the weight of the picture upon the cord or wire and the latter will be locked or held in this position so that after the picture is leveled, it will remain in this position and not become tilted. Therefore, it is only necessary for the user to hold the picture flat against the wall and move it downwardly and the cord or wire will be automatically received and held in place by the hanger.

One object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved hanger for pictures, mirrors or the like.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a hanger for pictures or like articles provided with a hook at the lower end thereof within which a wire or cord attached to the picture may be received and to provide means upon the hanger for positively guiding the cord or wire into the hook.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a hanger for pictures or the like of the character described above wherein a guide member or finger is pivoted to the body portion of the hanger to normally extend outwardly therefrom and guide the cord or wire attached to the picture into the hook provided at the bottom of the hanger and lock it therein so as to expedite and render more convenient the hanging of the picture and prevent subsequent tilting of the latter.

To these and other ends the invention consists in the novel features and combinations of parts to be hereinafter described and claimed.

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In the accompanying drawings:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of a hanger embodying our improvements, the hanger being secured to a wall and being in open position to receive the wire or cord of a picture;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view thereof showing the parts of the hanger in closed position; and

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the two elements comprising the hanger.

To illustrate a preferred embodiment of the invention there is shown in the drawings a hanger comprising a body member 10 having at its lower end a foot portion 11 extending outwardly from the body of the hanger, and between the foot 11 and the body portion is a socket or recess 12 providing a hook at the lower end of the body member adapted to receive the cord or wire of a picture or like article to be hung upon the wall.

The lower portion of this member is recessed or bifurcated as shown at 13 so that the foot portion 11 and the lower portion of the hanger body 10 are provided with spaced substantially parallel walls 14 and 15. This recess terminates in the body portion at a shoulder or the like 16 which, as will behereinafter described, is a stop member for the movable part of the device.

A guide finger 17 is provided with a foot portion or laterally extending portion 18 at its lower end, which lower portion is adapted to be received between the walls 14 and 15 of the foot member 11. The member 17 is provided with an opening 19 and the walls 14 and 15 with openings 20 so that the guide finger 17 may be pivoted to the body member 10 by the pivot pin 20.

The lower portion of the guide finger 17 is also provided with an upwardly facing socket or recess 22 and adjacent this recess the inner edge of the finger 17 may be provided with a protuberance 23 projecting toward the socket 22 or be otherwise so shaped as to bind against the cord or wire of the picture when the device is used as will be hereinafter explained.

It may also be noted that the upper edge of the hanger body 10 is beveled or inclined downwardly from the plane rear surface of the body member, as shown at 24, and this member may be secured flatly to the face of the wall 25 by a nail or other suitable fastening member 26. With the parts in this position it will be noted that the upper end of the guide finger 17 extends above the lower edge of the inclined surface 24, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, which disposition, as will be hereinafter explained, will assist in guiding the cord properly into the hook formed by the socket or recess 12.

It may also be noted that with the parts in the position shown in FIG. 1, wherein the guide finger 17 is spaced from the front face of the body member 10, the bottom of the socket 222 is disposed slightly above the bottom of the socket 12 so that the wire or cord in moving into the socket 12 will first strike the bottom of the socket 22 and the weight of the picture or a slight downward pull thereon will automatically effect swinging of the guide finger 17 from the position shown in FIG. 1 to that shown in FIG. 2. It will also be noted that the shoulder 16 at the upper end of the recess 13 in the body member 10 forms a shoulder to limit outward movement of the guide finger 17 (as shown in FIG. 1) by engagement with the toe portion 27 on the guide finger at the inner side of the recess 22.

In the use of the device with the parts in the position shown in FIG. 1 the picture to be hung will be placed with the wire or cord indicated at 28 against the wall 25 above the hanger. cause the wire to engage the inclined surface 24 and move downwardly over this surface and be guided by the upper end of the guide finger 17 into the space between the Moving the picture downwardly will 3 finger and the body 10 and downwardly toward the sockets or recesses 22 and 12.

When the cord strikes the bottom of the socket 22, the weight of the picture will automatically move the guide finger 17 inwardly in a counterclockwise direction to the position shown in FIG. 2. In this position the cord or wire will be gripped between the wall of the socket 12 and the protuberance 23 on the socket 22 to a sufiicient extent so that it will not of itself move to one side or the other. Therefore, when the picture is once leveled, it will remain in this position.

As illustrated, the parts of the hanger are formed of a suitable plastic material. This, however, may be varied as desired and they may be made of metal or other suitable material if this is preferred.

While we have shown and described one embodiment of our invention, it will be understood that it is not to be limited to all of the details shown, but is capable of modification and variation within the spirit of the invention and within the scope of the claims.

What we claim is:

l. A picture hanger comprising a body member having a planar rear surface for securement against a wall, said body member having a forwardly projecting foot at its lower end, and there being a cord-receiving socket between said body member and foot to provide a hook to receive a cord, a guide finger pivoted to said body member adjacent the outer end of said foot, said guide finger having a socket registering in part with that of the body member when the upper end of the guide finger is swung outwardly from the body member to provide therebetween a passage to said sockets, the bottom of the socket on the guide finger being above the bottom of the socket on the body member to be engaged by the cord to move said guide finger inwardly toward the body member, the upper surface of the body member being beveled to incline downwardly from the plane of its rear surface to guide a cord into said passage, and said guide finger extending above the lower edge of said beveled surface to guide the cord toward said sockets.

2. A picture hanger comprising a body member having a planar rear surface for securement against a wall, said body member having at its lower end a forwardly projecting foot and a socket adjacent the inner end of the foot to receive a cord, the lower portion of said body member being bifurcated to provide spaced walls and having a shoulder at the upper end of said bifurcated portion, a guide finger between said walls and pivoted to said foot adjacent the outer end of the latter, said guide finger also having an inwardly projecting foot portion provided with a cord-receiving socket, adapted to register, in part, with said first socket in an outward position of the guide finger, and a portion at the inner side of said socket adapted to engage said shoulder on the body member to limit outward pivotal movement of the guide finger away from the body member, said guide finger being adapted to stand in an outward position with respect to the body member to provide an upwardly opening-passage therebetween leading into said registering sockets, the upper surface of said body member being inclined downwardly from the plane of its rear surface toward said guide finger and the latter extending upwardly beyond the lower edge of said surface to guide a cord into said passage, and the bottom of the socket on the guide finger being above the bottom of the socket on the body member to be engaged by the cord when lodged in said socket to move said guide finger about its pivot in a direetion toward the body member.

3. A picture hanger as in claim 1 wherein the wall of the socket in the guide finger is shaped to clamp the cord between the finger and the adjacent surface of the body member.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 85,646 Dolan Jan. 5, 1869 1,541,991 Moody et a1 June 16, 1925 2,049,716 Owen Aug. 4, 1936 FOREIGN PATENTS 8,716 Switzerland May 23, 1894 292,565 Great Britain J an. 24, 1929 

